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Encyclopedia of niime

“tamaki niime shima” has launched! Asking Tamaki and Sakai about their thoughts.

〈 part 2 〉

2022 . 05 . 02

Tamaki and Sakai speak candidly about many things, including ‘tamaki niime Shima’. This is the second part of the interview!

Colourful fabrics, miscellaneous items, and food are arraigned nicely in the white space. Straight from the entrance, there is a counter left over from the old coffee shop in the shop’s centre.

Tamaki is a creator who seeks creations in everything, but she also is a ‘requester’ who has new, sharp and soft perspectives as a customer. Let us listen to her words about how she envisions the creation of diverse opportunities through interactions between various creators and requesters.


Tamaki
We kept that counter in Shima because I wanted to be a customer who could say, “Mom, give me snacks!” just like children who come home and say, “Hey, Mom!”


Sakai
(laugh)


—— You wanted to be a customer like that. (laugh)


Tamaki
I imagined myself to be a customer. (laugh) If I asked, “Mom, what’re today’s snacks?”, I wanted to have someone say, “Okay, how about this one”. It would help develop conversations, like “Hey, listen, so and so happened today!”, right? That could be the place to create the atmosphere of Shima.


—— I see.


Tamaki
When children say ‘Mom’ a lot, it must be a comfortable time and space. I hope that counter space can provide customers with a comfortable, accessible place for me, Sakai, and customers. I hope they can come to the counter when they have hard times and want us to listen to them. This space means to include having such conversations. (To Sakai) Right?


Sakai
It is the actual at-home place.


Tamaki
Yeah! That’s our idea. Our staff wear aprons to make them ‘Mom’ in that space. I want the team there to be like Mom.


—— What can I say about that? We depend on the conversations of people who visit there and how they go.


Tamaki
That’s right.


—— It is like, “If they need to talk seriously, you want to give them tea….”


Tamaki
Yeah, something like that.


—— Such loose, relaxed feelings …


Tamaki
I would feel it’s like, ‘we got new tea in our store, won’t you try it?’


—— I see. You don’t want it to be a regular coffee shop.


Tamaki
It shouldn’t be business. It should be…


—— It should be flexible, not fixed.


Tamaki
Yeah. We can change, or other staff would in different ways. I think it’s good to not be fixed in place.


—— I see. The shop can change freely with the people and how they take care… that’s great.


Tamaki
I’ve been thinking of stopping by Shima to shop once a week. I get milk for myself or ingredients for miso soup, and I also want some snacks today. Something like that.


—— You could request things you want. (laugh).


Tamaki
We actually do! We sometimes have a meeting at that counter, asking them what they want to eat and talking with them while having tea and snacks.


—— I see. (laugh)


Sakai
Yeah.


Tamaki
That’s perfect, right? (laugh) It looks like our home dining kitchen.


—— Standing at the book section at Shima on opening day, I felt you helped interactions with customers and ‘makers’ by having all collections of high-quality district items of fabrics, miscellaneous things, and foods. Even more, helping people from the same businesses or different businesses to interact with each other.


Tamaki
Yeah, yeah.


—— Not only for interactions of customers and makers, but also makers can interact with each other.


Tamaki
Having interactions, they become intersections.


—— Intersections. That sounds good.


Tamaki
Our place isn’t a hangout spot, but you might run into someone you know that could surprise and pique your interest.


—— I can feel that.


Tamaki
That is…


—— That’s not the one you can get from sitting and having tea on a chair…


Tamaki
You are right. It feels exactly like an intersection. I am happy if that place gives you a chance to start interacting with different business owners, making friends, or finding someone to marry. Anything is fine. Just being an intersection is excellent.


—— Have you been thinking about this for a long time?


Tamaki
(nod)


—— Your aim and set-up are great…


Tamaki
This must have been done by the government, but I thought I should go ahead and do it instead of having someone do it.


—— You wanted to start on your own.


Tamaki
If we could estimate economic effects with this intersection, we would find out if there’s meaning to having Shima.


Sakai
In that sense, if we try to get overall economic impacts in this region, it would not be easy to make to get good results if we don’t break down the walls between each industry in the Banshu area.


—— I see.


Sakai
We have been working individually so far. Even though everyone wanted to connect, each one couldn’t start working toward it. But this time, it looks like we have a chance to connect in a good way.


Tamaki
I think I could do it because I am an outsider, but I have lived here for ten years. (laugh). As a result, I could get good information, but I still need to have more, which is not enough.


—— You made an effort to break down barriers. I appreciate you as a resident.


Tamaki
Well, we have to work on it more.


Sakai
It’s the place to get along with everyone.


Tamaki
I would say, “Let’s have fun”.


Sakai
We should be happy and peaceful.


—— Actually, I felt and saw them interacting with each other. They would be doing more and more from now on.


Tamaki
The essential thing is to have a ‘permanent exhibit’ instead of ‘special exhibitions’.


Sakai
Yeah.


Tamaki
Special exhibitions or events have advantages. But if they are held once a year, they don’t have much impact throughout the year.


Sakai
No, not much. Even though events capitalize on that power, which is their main draw.


Tamaki
Such occasions make the place lively, but they keep it quiet until they have it a year later. Both of them are necessary. But I think the one we have missed in Nishiwaki is a permanent exhibit.


—— You need constant interaction, right?


Tamaki
Yeah, interacting is essential. We don’t have to do it every day. Even sometimes, it is good to have a place to meet with someone somewhere.


—— We could connect to stories of making things because there are products. Even food has a story. For instance, if weavers take rice crackers in their hands, they may connect with someone.


Tamaki
Indeed.


—— It must be an exciting place.


Tamaki
At first, it was just our wish for our company. It started with our idea that we wanted our staff to know a little more about Banshu-ori.


—— Oh, I see…


Tamaki
We wanted our staff to see other factories, but we couldn’t make it happen. We wish that they could know what Banshu-ori is.


—— Then you had an idea to gather all kinds of fabrics at Shima, which plan is terrific. You consider the community of this district, customers and your staff.


Tamaki
Because we are all linked to each other after all.


—— They all connect. Is this the plan you thought of? I can see your consistent concept attitude of ‘tamaki niime’.


Tamaki
I might say we have been inspired. If Mr Nishikaku had not asked us to open a fabric shop, we wouldn’t have opened this store.


—— So that was the trigger?


Tamaki
Well, he wanted us to open a store?! Then why don’t we do it? So we started moving forward with the hint he gave us.


In opening Shima, Ms Tamaki is upfront as a brand representative. She considered not only her staff but centering on producing products in this region. She focused on making ‘the place’ for the people who connected with ‘tamaki niime’ to improve performance.


Tamaki
Having Shima gives me one of the opportunities that offer me and everyone to express what they want to do.


—— Is that what everyone wants to get out of Shima?


Tamaki
Now, this Shop & Lab belongs to everyone, not just me. It will change how everyone reacts. I am part of you, so there may be some parts I could change, but I have been telling you that you can change your workplace as you like, and I have been working for it so that the company can run well without me. That experiment has started running well somehow…and later on, I know it will spin on its own.


—— I see.


Tamaki
Of course, I will share when I get inspired by something, but basically, I hope they grow to become more enjoyable on their own. I am sure they will succeed at other places because they did well with Shop & Lab.


—— I see.


Tamaki
We would have good interactions among the people who make various things in this region. It would be great if there were a place everyone could enjoy working and interacting. They had a problem that they didn’t have a place to sell them, even though they could make the products. So our experiment is to create a place to make a new market cycle.


—— Shima is also a new experiment, right?


Tamaki
I think it’s all right to have our products and other companies’. Many people were surprised at seeing both.


—— Having both or I should say fabrics are mixed together.


Tamaki
Why is it a problem? How you decorate them is more important. I wanted to work on that.


—— You display fabrics selected by colours, not by brands.


Tamaki
Not having it done by someone, I wanted to do like this, and I did it!


—— You express it in detail. I think you showed the recommended products of this region beautifully. They look natural and friendly.


Tamaki
Because we are being ‘Moms’, we are not trying to be cool but neutral and easy to show them.


—— And even beautifully.


Tamaki
It’s essential to be beautiful. I think being comfortable is necessary.


—— There’s everything to feel good about. That’s why children, men and women can come casually. They feel like just stopping by a bit.


Tamaki
Yeah.


—— It gives a chance to open you up and makes it easier for people to know the ‘tamaki niime’ brand and make them feel and experience your vision.


Tamaki
There are still many people who don’t know us. We are happy if Shima becomes a meeting place even for us.


—— It feels like you created a container, not just a place. It’s like you could add your colours since it’s a white space.


Tamaki
That’s right. I want you to express your personality without hesitation. Having Shima offers you just an opportunity, and running a business is up to our staff and everyone. So I am happy if you all think and work to make it better.


They get involved with various people and develop their relationships through making district products in the Banshu-ori region. Through interacting with people, the white canvas of Shima would change many different colours.

During Golden Week, on the third, fourth, and fifth of May, they open the Shima exhibition, which is the first event after opening! In addition, they have a workshop on making products. So please come by to experience your new possibilities!

Original Japanese text by Seiji Koshikawa.
English translation by Adam & Michiko Whipple.